Running Towards Love
by BrigitteRenee
Summary: Hermione moved to the United States following finishing her education to become a teacher. There she met Derek one day while she was on a run.


Dafs

Hermione and Derek

Rating

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Hermione was doing her daily run down in the park several miles from her apartment. She was about a quarter mile from the parking lot when two young boys jumped out from the woods "Boo" and then ran away. Hermione jumped and hit the pavement. As she fell she twisted her ankle and scraped up her hands and knees. Gripping her ankle, she sat down on the side of the trail. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder out; Hermione acted instinctually and flipped the man on his back; she quickly stood up careful not to put much weight on her left ankle.

The man yelled out "Damn. I was only stopping to see if you were okay. I'm an FBI agent, I'm not going to hurt you."

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little jumpy."

"Don't worry about it, I'm glad that you can protect yourself. However, it looks a like you could use some help. Do you mind if I look at your ankle?"

Hermione hesitated but then nodded "Sure, but do you mind introducing yourself first?"

He held out his hand "Derek Morgan, and you are?"

"Hermione Granger" and then she sat back down on the side of trail and Derek squatted next to her and looked at her angle.

He touched her ankle and she winced. "Well I don't think that it's broken, but you aren't going to be able to walk on it. Do you want my help getting back to the parking lot?"

Hermione looked a little defeated "Fine, but don't think that I am happy about this." Derek laughed a little and helped pull her up. He turned his back to her and put his arms out behind him. Hermione looked at him "what do you think you are doing?"

"I'm going to give you a piggy back ride; how else you do think you are going to make it back a quarter of a mile and it's going to be dark soon?"

"Fine, but note that I'm doing this under duress."

He laughed again "Come on; jump up. The sooner we get going the sooner we are done with this."

Derek not wanting to walk in silence started up a conversation "So a British accent, when did you move to the D.C.?"

Hermione readjusted her arms around his neck "I moved here about a year ago from London. What about you? Have you always lived in D.C.?"

"I grew up in Chicago, but came here to work for the BAU for the FBI."

"What's the BAU?"

"It's the Behavioral Analysis Unit; we look at serial killers, child abductions and consult on different cases. And how you do spend your time besides running in the park?"

"I'm a teacher at a private school in the area. I teach Latin, French, and Greek year round and a creative writing elective."

"That is not the type of high school that I went you. We only had Spanish."

"Yeah, well this is an exclusive private school, so they are able to offer a number of classes that wouldn't usually be offered. And my students aren't just high schoolers, I actually teach French starting to students in second grade, but the other classes don't start until middle school or high school."

They asked questions back and forth for the rest of the walk. When they made it back to the parking lot Derek asked "What car is yours so I can drop you off?"

"Yeah about that, you can just drop me off at a bench and I'll call for a cab. I run from my apartment to the park so I don't have a car here."

"I'm not going to let you take a cab with your ankle like that, you probably didn't even bring any money with you. Let me drive you home."

Hermione raised her eyebrows "So after everything you have seen you would tell your sister, mother or daughter get into a car with a man they just met and let them drive her home when they were injured and couldn't fight them off?"

"Okay so you are right, I would never advise them to do this, but how about I set you on the bench then go get my FBI badge from my car and show it to you. If after that you still don't want me to drive you home, I will call you a cab."

"That sounds acceptable." Derek set her down on a bench and then jogged to his car to grab his badge. On his way over to his car he was laughing that the tenacity of this girl. He loved the fire that he saw in his eyes; she just wasn't like any other girl that he had met before. After grabbing his badge out of his bag he ran back over to Hermione and gave her is badge.

She stared at it for a minute before giving it back to him, "the fact that you were willing to go get this for me proves that you are who you say you are. I don't think that most people would come up with such an elaborate ruse including the children jumping out and scaring random joggers; especially since I see you jogging in the park often"

"So do I pass your inspection?"

"You sure do Agent 007."

"So I seem like the James Bond type to you?"

"You defiantly seem like a suave ladies' man to me." Derek blushed but then picked her back up and walked her over to the car and set her down in the passenger seat.

"So where do you live"

She gave the address, to which he responded "So you run six miles a day? That's pretty impressive."

"Yeah I try to stay in shape, I also take kick boxing and self-defense classes."

Derek laughed "Yeah the bruises from that take down prove that."

When they made it to her apartment building Derek helped her up the stairs and led her to her door. "Are you going to be okay here? Are you sure that you don't want me to take you to the hospital?"

"Agent Morgan, I assure you that I am fine. Now why don't you just go call back whomever it was that called before, while we were in the car ride over. I assume it was work because you checked your watch a few times."

"Well aren't you the profiler now?"

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek "thank you Derek for all your help today; now why don't you head off to work and I'll see you soon when I get back to running"

Derek headed out the door in daze and made it back to the truck. He saw that he had a missed call so he picked up his phone and called Hotch who picked up on the first ring "we have a stranger child abduction in Washington, D.C I need you at the office now."

It only took Derek twenty minutes to make it to the Bureau where he met the team in the parking garage and got into one of the SVUs. Rossi looked back at him and just smirked "I know that look. I've had it myself a time or two there is a new woman in your life."

Derek just shook his head "No I just helped a fellow jogger when she fell on the path and twisted her ankle."

"Let me guess, you carried her back to her car."

"Actually I carried back to my car and then drove her home." Hotch and Rossi just looked at each other. "Hey don't look at each other like that. I know what you are thinking, and we are not seeing each other. I just met Hermione today."

Both Hotch and Rossi just laughed "well, that's how it starts."

Derek rolled his eyes and went to grab his phone out of his pocket when he felt a slip of paper; on the paper it said Hermione Granger 202-503-7683 with a smiley face. He smiled to himself and saved her number in his phone.

It was about a week till he saw Hermione again; he was out jogging on the path about to make his second loop when he saw her jogging into the park. He waved her over and then jogged in place until she made it over. Then they kept jogging around the park. "Hey how is your ankle?"

"It's better now. I just had it wrapped up and iced for a few days and now I just run with a compression sleeve on it." Sure, it also required a potion to heal to the torn ligaments, but he didn't need to know that. He looked down at her ankle and saw the compression sleeve. "So how were your students this week?"

"They were great. We had presentations in my upper level classes, and my younger students were working on their projects. How was your case? I assume you were on one because I haven't seen you running the past few mornings during the week."

"It was fine. It was those child abductions in D.C. We caught the guy but unfortunately we weren't able to save all of the children."

Hermione stopped jogging and gave him a hug "I'm sorry; I know that must be hard on you and the rest of your team. I also know that nothing I can say will be able to make it better, but thank you for everything you do to protect us from these people." They said very little for the rest of their jog in companionable silence.

Derek looked at her as she ran. She was wearing yoga capris and a dry fit shirt that clung to her curves. Her long curly hair streamed behind from her pony tail and the light from the rising sun made it look like a halo surrounded her head. God she was beautiful, he thought to himself, but immediately berated himself because he knew that Rossi and Hotch were right, he was getting attached. But then she caught his eye and she gave him a brilliant smile and all thoughts of Rossi and Hotch were lost. When they made it to the end of the path they gave a wave good-bye and Hermione turned right running towards her apartment; while Derek turned left running another lap.

This routine continued for the next week since the team hadn't caught any out of town cases. All week at work he had been catching glances from Rossi and Hotch who had been kind enough to keep it from the rest of the team, but when they were alone they were constantly nagging him about his new girl and asking her out. Truth be told Derek had wanted to ask her out since the first day when she got hurt, but he figured that if he waited a while it would allow her to get comfortable enough with him, and allow him to test her interest in him. This week there had been some flirty smiles and flirty banter so he felt confident that she was also interested in him, so as they rounded the corner where they would usually split off he looked at her and asked "Do you want to get some coffee together?"

Hermione's smile brightened "Of course, do you want to go now? I think that we can skip the rest of our run one day."

On the inside Hermione was jumping up and down. When she had gotten home a few weeks ago from Derek carrying her she had called Ginny and they had talked for a few hours. Ginny had convinced her that she needed to ask Derek out, and she had decided that if he hadn't asked her out by next week then she was going to, but now she didn't have to.

Derek was also internally ecstatic with her response "Yeah, I know this place around the corner that shouldn't be too busy now, we can jog to it." They jogged around the corner to this cute little café that was decorated in warm colors with dark stained wood and leather padded chairs and couches. Derek bought himself a coffee and Hermione ordered a tea; then they settled down at a little table in the back corner of the café and discuss a multitude of topic including their families, schooling, friends, funny things that have happened at work.

They were lost in their conversation, having long ago finished their drinks and the sky outside had gotten dark. Derek's stomach growled and Hermione laughed "We better get going I don't want your stomach to attack me."

"Ha ha ha, you are so funny."

They gathered their cups and Derek looked outside noticing that it was dark "why don't we go back to the park together and then let me drive you home. I would rather that you didn't jog by yourself in the dark. I get worried about you."

"I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself."

"Please, just let me. I know that you can take care of yourself; I've noticed the knife in the sheath that you carry in the side pocket of all your running gear" Hermione's looked surprised and ran her hand down the pocket to ensure that it was still there.

Derek continued "but I still worry because every day I go to work and the see very worst that humanity has to offer and a lot of the victims are people that can handle themselves, but it only takes one moment of distraction for someone to get a jump on you."

Hermione nodded in understanding "I concede to your logic; you may drive me home."

They walked back to the park both lost in their thoughts. Derek felt worried that he overplayed his hand and that Hermione might not want to see him anymore if he was going to act like an overprotective idiot. Hermione was slightly annoyed that Derek thought she couldn't take care of herself, I mean she survived torture and a war, but he didn't know that, and she understood that his job made him see the worst in every situation making him overprotective.

She still liked Derek and wanted to see him more, but knew that if he was anything like Harry he was probably doubting himself now. Then it hit her, she knew the perfect way to keep seeing Derek, while letting him know that she understood and accepted his protectiveness.

When they were settled in his car, she turned and looked at him "Since you are so worried about me being out jogging after dark, you should probably not allow me to meet you at the park in the mornings. I mean it's dark when I leave my house." Derek didn't really know what to say to that, so she continued "I mean you should probably drive to my apartment every morning so that way I don't run the two miles to the park by myself." Derek just sat there in shock; he hadn't expected that response. Seeing as they had made it to her apartment building she gathered all her Gryffindor courage and quickly kissed his cheek and said "I leave here by 5:15am during the week, so don't be late tomorrow." Then she got out of the car and ran into her building.

When she got to her apartment her courage had faded and she slid to the ground, questioning her decision, especially because he never confirmed whether he was going to come or not. She opened up her cell phone and called Ginny. "Hello? Gin?"

"Yeah Hermione is everything okay? You sound upset."

"I may have just invited Derek, you know that guy I run with to come to my house every day, but I didn't wait for him to respond. I just got scared when he didn't immediately answer and ran into my apartment."

Ginny let her ramble on for a few more minutes, before cutting her off. "Hermione calm down. If he doesn't show up, then it's his loss. I'm just so glad that you finally grew a pair and asked him out; it's the twenty-first century if a woman wants a date then she can ask that person out. I mean after the war I was the one who had to ask Harry out and look how well that turned out. I mean we have two great boys and another one on the way."

That got Hermione's attention "Wait. Are you pregnant? You said another one on the way."

"Shit. It was supposed to be a surprise for when we come see you in two weeks. Harry made me promise that he could tell you."

Hermione laughed "That is so amazing. I'm going to have another niece or nephew. Don't worry I won't tell Harry that you told me."

"You better not."

Hermione heard a thunk through the phone and then heard Ginny yelling "James, what have I told you about flying inside the house?" Then Ginny came back on the line "Hey, sorry to end the call before I got all the juicy details about Agent Hottie, but I need to wrangle my little monsters."

"Don't worry about it. Make sure to tell them that Auntie Mione loves them."

"I will. Talk to you soon."

"Bye." Hermione hung up then got in the shower before she started making dinner.

When Hermione got out of the car he just sat there in shock, but the time he realized what she told him, she was already in the building. He smirked, damn that girl had spunk which he admired. He reached down for his phone making sure to change his alarm for earlier so that way he could get there in time tomorrow.

The next morning Hermione woke up early and made her way down to the lobby. She was nervous. What if Derek didn't show up? She really thought that he was interested in her, and he was the first person that she had really bonded with since she moved to the States last year. All her colleagues were in their 50s and had been teaching together for most of their careers, she was the odd one out at 30. Hermione was gathering her courage to set outside when her phone rang.

She picked it up to hear Derek's deep voice on the other side "And I thought you left at precisely 5:15. I am standing here in the parking lot and it's now 5:16, are you coming out or did I hear you wrong yesterday?"

Hermione's heart leapt "I'm coming out now." She hung up and stepped out the door. She met Derek just outside the door "Hey, sorry I'm a minute late." He just laughed. They stretched and began their run. Derek let her take the lead and show him what route she took to the park. They ran in content silence and finished about five minutes earlier than usual.

They ended at Derek's car in front the Hermione's apartment and she kissed his cheek and gave him a hug "I'll see you tomorrow, but I need to get ready to go to work, and so do you." Derek winked at her and got inside his car.

They continued on their daily runs whenever Derek was in town. On the days that it was raining they sparred with each other or went to the gym, and they often ate dinner together. After about a month of this routine it was nearing the end of the school year and Hermione was required to attend a formal event to thank the families and other benefactors who have donated to the school. She looked at Derek, he was wearing basketball shorts, and a dry fit t shirt; she could see his muscles rippling under his clothes.

He caught her eye and winked "like the view?"

She blushed a little "don't act like you don't know that you are good looking." He just smirked, but she continued on "So I have a formal event to attend for the school next week Friday and I was hoping that you would be my date. If you get a case I understand if you can't come, but if you are home would you go?"

Derek slowed down at little "of course I would love to go with, but if I get a case what will you do?"

"Then I will go alone; I don't want to go with anyone but you."

"Well then I guess I will have to do anything I can to do make sure that I am going to be there." She just smiled and they ran back in silence.

At the door Hermione leaned in to kiss his cheek as she always did put Derek turned his head to ask her about the event, so she missed his cheek and kissed his mouth. She stepped back and blushed, but Derek pulled her closer and kissed her heatedly. They pulled back to catch their breath. Hermione looked up at him "do you want to come upstairs?"

"But don't you have work?"

"No we have off today" He just nodded and she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. They took the stairs to her third floor apartment and as soon as they had gotten inside he pinned her to the door and kissed her. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist between kisses he breathed in her ear "where is your bedroom?" then he kissed down her neck "at the end of the hall" she replied.

He walked them to the bedroom where he set her down on the bed "you know I was planning on going slow and being a gentleman; I wasn't going to go from 0 to 100 all in one day."

She stood up and grabbed the hem of his t shirt pulling it over his head before kissing him again "if you want to stop we can, but I want you so don't think that I am going to regret this" and with that they tumbled back on the bed.

Derek arrived to work an hour late, but it was so hard to leave Hermione, and their adventure in the bedroom turned into one in the bathroom before he was presentable to leave. He had to use one of his spare sets of clothes that he kept in his car, but it was so worth it. He was so tempted just to call in sick, but he knew that would mean the team showing up to his house to check on him. He kissed Hermione good bye and promised to call her later. When he was leaving the elevator he ran into Garcia.

As soon as she saw him, she got the biggest smile on her face. "You have a new girl."

"Baby girl, I don't know what you are talking about."

"Hey don't you try those Jedi mind tricks on me; just because you are a profiler doesn't mean that you can lie to me. I know those looks and you have been getting some." The rest of the team heard this conversation as they entered the bull pen.

Rossi just looked at him and said "so are you and Hermione both late for work today,"

"No the school is closed today."

Garcia's eyes lit up "who is this Hermione and why does Rossi know about her?"

Emily leaned on her desk "what no classic Morgan, 'I don't kiss and tell.'"

Derek decided that the best way to deal with this was to just not answer them.

JJ just smiled "she must be the real deal if he won't talk about her."

Hotch came down the stairs into the bullpen "Morgan, I left a bunch of case files for you in your office. Until we get another case everyone is going to be writing up consultations for those cases that we are not going to. I don't want you to be late again. Now everyone get to work; we can all gossip about Morgan's and Ms. Granger's relationship later."

Garcia's mouth dropped open "Even Hotch knows."

Derek took that opening and made his way to his office and shut the door behind him. He spent his day until lunch reviewing some of the files and writing profiles.

Around noon Spencer knocked on his door and stuck his head in "lunch arrived"

"thanks Reid. I'll be down in a second."

He was making his way down to lunch when his phone beeped; it was a text message from Hermione that read "I know that you will probably be staying late at work to make up for being late this morning, but dinner will be served at 7. Bring an overnight bag ; )."

Prentiss who had been sitting next to him read the message and whistled "damn, so it was a good morning."

Derek ignored the friendly banter of the rest of the team as he finished his lunch. He sent Hermione a quick reply "I'll be there." For the rest of the day Derek stayed in his office working on the case files; luckily for him Rossi had Garcia working on some things, so she wasn't able to bother him with questions about Hermione. He knew that she probably was going to dig up a ton of information about her, but he honestly couldn't expect her to act any differently especially when he had done the same thing to her boyfriends. At 5:30 he left the office and headed back to his house to pack a bag to stay the night at Hermione's apartment.

Hermione used her morning to do some laundry and eat breakfast. At about 9:15 she heard her floo sound and Ginny stepped out. Ginny gave Hermione one look "you forgot about dress shopping today didn't you?"

"Yeah sorry I had a crazy morning, and I totally forgot. If you give me five minutes I can go get changed." They made their way into Hermione's room, and Ginny walked to the closet to pick out an outfit for Hermione when she saw a pair of men's underwear and running shorts on the ground.

"Oh Merlin. You and Derek finally had sex."

Hermione blushed "yes we did; this morning was the first time."

"Damn, now it is even more important to go dress shopping. We need to get you a killer dress to show off that body you've gotten from all the working out you two do together."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but didn't bother arguing with her because she knew that it was just better to agree with Ginny. Hermione quickly got changed and the two of them took the train into DC to go dress shopping.

Ginny looked around as soon as they got off the train "I am so glad that we decided to come here. I was getting so sick of the lack of variety in the Wizarding world, especially in their maternity robes; it's like as soon as your bump shows you have to wear these giant flowing robes. I'm pregnant, but that doesn't mean I can't wear form fitting clothes. First we will find you a dress, then we will get me some new clothes."

They were lucky; it only took Hermione two shops to find her dress. It was a trumpet style dress in emerald green that clung to her curves, it had a sweet-heart neckline and off the shoulder straps. Hermione turned in front of the mirrors, and paused to look at Ginny "so what do you think?"

"If I wasn't pregnant and married, I would totally be into you."

"You don't think that it's to clingy do you?"

"No, of course not. It looks gorgeous and emphasizes your shape. If Derek doesn't try to keep you in the bedroom with this on, then he needs his eyes checked. Ohh and you can where those cute gold heels that we got on our last shopping trip together."

The sales attendant came out from the back. "I knew that this was the one. Now if you are going to take this I also have a matching tie and pocket square for your date that is a must if you want to match your date."

Ginny took the tie from the sales attendant and looked at it before handing it back. "Do you have one in emerald and gold? We are going to accessorize with gold, and I want him to match that." The sales attendant rushed off and came back with what Ginny requested. Ginny then turned to Hermione "go get changed so that we can have the dress wrapped up." Then turning to the sales attendant Ginny directed her "we will take the dress, the tie and the pocket square." Hermione got changed then cashed out. They made arrangements to pick up the dress this afternoon after they were done with their shopping.

Next they stopped for lunch where Ginny and Hermione were arguing over what to send to Derek. Hermione looked at Ginny "I am having him over for dinner; I don't want to treat him like a booty call."

Ginny just rolled her eyes "you are not treating him like a booty call; I just want you to be a little flirty in your text. You need to make sure that he knows that you didn't want this to be a one-time thing."

"Fine, but if this backfires I am blaming you." When Derek responded back quickly Ginny looked at Hermione, but Hermione cut her off "don't even say I told you so." They spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for a variety of maternity wear for Ginny, before returning to the shop to pick up Hermione's dress and heading home. Hermione hung the dress bag up in the closet and helped Ginny shrink all her packages into her purse.

Ginny pulled out a few little boxes and guided Hermione to sit on the couch. "Now I know how you feel about expensive gifts, but we didn't buy these. Sirus and Harry gave these to me when I left this morning because you know that Sirus thinks of you as a daughter and Harry thinks of you as a sister and they just love to spoil you." Ginny opened the first box which held a beautiful gold choker and drop gold earrings. She then opened the second box which held a gold headband that was decorated with tiny little cut out gold leafs.

"Ginny, you know that I can't accept these."

"Tuff luck, you have two very generous men who think of you as family and want you to have the family jewelry."

"What about you? I don't want to take these pieces away from you."

"This is Black family jewelry, so technically it is Sirus' to give away; Harry just helped him pick it out and make sure that there were no curses on it. They just sent it with me because they know that you will never take anything from them. I mean, Sirus adopted you years ago, I have no idea why you still refuse to accept gifts from him."

"I just feel like these things aren't mine, but I'll accept it because I know that if I don't you will just use a sticking charm on them to get me to keep them. Tell them I said thank you, and give my nephew's my love." She gave Ginny a hug and guided her through the floo.

Hermione moved the jewelry to her safe, before getting her bedding out of the dryer and making her bed. She then moved to the kitchen to start fixing dinner; she looked at the clock which read 6pm, so she had about an hour till she promised to have dinner ready. She had just finished putting the lasagna in the oven when she got a call from Derek asking him to let her in the building. She made sure she had her keys before running downstairs to let him in. When she opened the door he gave her a sweet kiss, and then allowed her to guide him inside and up to her apartment.

She leaned against the counter and looked at him "How was your day today? Did your friends give you hell for being late, especially when you walked in with a smirk on your face?"

He put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him "And how do you know I walked in with a smirk on my face?"

She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away turning back to check the oven. "I know because that's what you looked like as you left this morning, and I had the biggest smile on my face all day today."

"Okay, fine you caught me. I walked into work today with a look that can only be described as being thoroughly satisfied by a gorgeous Brit. All my teammates took that to mean they could tease me."

She laughed "thank you, that's all I wanted to hear. So how long until your Baby girl, Penelope, looks me up?"

It was his turn to laugh "Well she was given a ton of work today, so if she hasn't done so already then I'm sure that she will have done so my tomorrow." The timer went off and Hermione pulled the lasagna out.

They ate dinner and cleaned up together before heading to bed. Tonight all they did was lay there together and talk. Derek was running his hands up and down her arm "you don't have to tell me, but I was wondering if you would tell me how you got all those scars. Some of them look pretty nasty."

Hermione reached her hand up to touch his face, she gave him a kiss. "In order for you to understand them I need to tell you a story first. There was a psychopath that attacked one of my friends when he was a baby; he survived but his family was killed. The psychopath was wounded very badly in the attack, so he fled but everyone thought he was dead so no one tried to find him. When we were 11 he sent people to our school to find my friend Harry; he continued sending people after us until I was 15 when he finally had regained all his strength and he kidnapped Harry who was able to escape. Then when we were in our fifth year of school we were so stupid and were tricked into confronting him. That is when I got the scar across my torso from one of his followers. We were rescued by a resistance group. Then the next year his followers attacked our school and Harry, Ron, our other best friend, and I went on the run from him because no one was doing anything to stop him. Eventually we were caught and I was tortured for information which is where I got the scar on my neck and on my arm. It says Mudblood because they told me that I had dirty blood and needed to be reminded of that. We escaped once again with the help of an undercover agent. There was a final confrontation a few weeks later where the psychopath was killed along with many of his followers. The rest of the followers were arrested and got the death penalty."

Derek was crying, but she wiped the tears from this face. "I can't believe you survived that and are still able to trust people."

"I can't let what happen to me as a teenager rule the rest of my life. I am stronger because of what happened to me. I don't want you to be upset."

Derek didn't respond he just kissed her and just slowly made love to her. They spent the night holding each other and when Derek's alarm went off at 4:30 they rolled out of bed and got dressed for their run. After their run they had breakfast together and then showered to get ready for their respective jobs. They made their way to the parking lot. Derek kissed her good-bye and asked her "Will you come over for dinner tonight after work? I can text you when I get home?"

"Of course I'll see you later."

Work was much the same for both of them that day. The students were getting anxious to be out of school for the summer and it was harder to keep their attention. At the BAU the profilers were all over Derek again quizzing him about Hermione again when Garcia walked in for the day carrying her tablet. She walked straight over to Derek and showed him Hermione's driver's license picture "I know that you are going to be mad, but I needed to know since you wouldn't tell me anything. All I have to say is that I approve, but I want to meet her. I am giving you a week to introduce us or else I will introduce myself to her."

"Penelope, I am disappointed that you couldn't wait until I was ready to share the information with you, but even Hermione guessed that you would search into her background. She wants to meet you all to, it's just with our schedule it's hard to plan in advance."

Garcia stomped her foot "you have one week and I mean it. I can figure out a way to casually meet her at the coffee shop that she frequents down the street from her school." Derek just kissed her forehead and went to his office. When he shut the door he sent a message to Hermione telling her what Garcia said. He went about his day continuing to review the consults and write profiles for them. He made it home and texted Hermione letting her know that she could come over, and he cooked dinner.

They went to bed early that night, but their sleep was interrupted by a phone call at 3am. "Hello?"

Hotch replied "Morgan it's Hotch. We have a case in Texas, I need you at the airfield in 40 minutes."

"Okay, I'll be there." He rolled out of bed, and Hermione sat up "is it a case?"

"Yeah, I'm going to Texas. You should go back to sleep. I will leave a key for you on the kitchen counter, just lock up when you leave, but keep the key with you." He grabbed the bags that he kept with a weeks' worth of clothes from the corner. Then he made his way back to the bed and kissed Hermione "I'm not sure how long the case is going to last, but I will try to make it back your formal event."

"Bye, stay safe." Hermione went back to sleep, and Derek made his way to the airstrip.

It was Wednesday of the following week and the case wasn't going well. There were not that many leads and Derek was nervous that he wouldn't be able to make it back for Hermione's event; they had been talking every other day when he wasn't busy or when Hotch sent them to go rest. She told him that she understood, but he still felt awful about it. His phone rang as he was packing up his bag for the evening, he saw that it was Garcia. "Baby girl, do you have something for the case?"

"No, but I just wanted to let you know that it has been a week and you haven't introduced Hermione and I."

"I'm away on a case; you can't hold me responsible for that when I'm not there."

"Yes I still do. So I took it upon myself to call her, and we are going out to dinner together tonight."

Derek closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Try not to scare her away" and he hung up. He called Hermione then "Hermione?" "Yes?"

"I heard that Garcia ambushed you, and you are now going out to dinner together."

"Yeah, but I understand why she wants to meet me. I am actually really excited though. I hope we can be friends because even though I've lived here for a little while I still don't really have that many friends here."

Derek smiled "well good luck. Let me know how it goes."

"I will. Bye."

Hermione smoothed out her dress outside the restaurant before walking in the door. She saw a woman who she assumed was Penelope sitting at a table. She made her way over, and knew that she guessed right when the woman jumped up and gave her huge hug. "Hi. I'm Penelope Garcia; you must be Hermione Granger. I am so excited to finally meet you. I gave Derek a week to introduce us, but he didn't so that's why I called you. I hope that you don't mind that I did that; I just really wanted to meet you."

Hermione smiled "I'm glad you called. Derek talks about the team all the time, and I have been dying to meet you all, but with your schedules we just haven't had the time."

Overall the night was a success; the two of them go on like a house on fire, and made plans to meet up whenever the team was away because they both expressed how lonely it was when Derek was gone. They stayed at the restaurant discussing everything under the sun until the staff asked them to leave so they could close.

It was Friday morning before they finally got a line on the unsub, and were able to arrest him by noon. When the brought him into the station Derek stepped away to speak to Hotch. "Will we be able to leave within the next two hours?"

"Yes, I will call the pilot, and tell the team. You better call Ms. Granger and let her know that you are going to be able to make it; although you are going to want her to bring your suit to the airfield if you want to make it in time."

Derek tapped his shoulder. "Thanks man." Derek walked outside and picked up the phone to call Hermione knowing that she was at lunch still "Hey, are you free to talk?"

"Yeah, I a free period right now. Is everything okay?"

"It's great actually. We are leaving the station in a few minutes and our flight should land by 5pm your time. So if you are willing to pick up a suit for me from my house and meet me at the airfield I will be able to make it on time."

"Of course, I will. I still want you to come. Text me when you are leaving so that I can get a better estimate of your arrival. Do you know what kind of suit you want?"

"I don't even know what your dress looks like so why don't you pick something out for me."

"Sounds good."

Derek heard a bell ring in the background, and Hermione said "I have a class coming in. Just text me when you leave and the address of the airfield and I will see you there." Hermione quick texted Penelope asking her to meet her at Derek's apartment later because she needed help picking out a suit to match her dress.

After work Hermione went to the store to pick up groceries for Derek's house. At home she jumped in the shower and then packed a bag with all the stuff she would need for the night figuring that after Derek was away he would prefer to be at his house. She grabbed her dress bag and texted Garcia to let her know that she was leaving her apartment and would be at his house in fifteen minutes. She met Penelope at Derek's apartment.

"Thank you for meeting me here. I have no idea what type of suit he would want or what would match my dress."

Garcia gave her a huge hug "I am just go excited that he is able to make it home. I have been working overtime to find that creep so that he could make it back here for this. So let me see this dress." Hermione unzipped the bag and pulled out her dress.

"Oh my god that it gorgeous. Here let's go to his closet to find a suit, and tie."

"Actually I got a tie and pocket square when I bought my dress. My friend told me that I should in case he didn't have one to match."

"That is genius. I need to meet that girl."

"I'm sure she would love to meet you as well, but she is in England, so it will probably be a while till she can get over here again." They made their way to his closet; eventually the two decided that a grey suit would look the best. They turned on the TV to watch TLC while Hermione was getting ready. Hermione had gone into his room to get into her dress; she walked out "So, how do I look?"

"Damn, you look fabulous. If I know Derek as well as I think I do, then he shouldn't be able to keep his hands off of you."

"Thanks I just have to grab his suit and my purse then we should be able to drive to the airfield to go pick him up."

"Great! Let's go." They drove to the airfield and Garcia gave her credentials to get them in the gates to be able to park next to the FBI vehicles. The plane landed and the doors were opening, so Hermione got out.

As the plane descended Derek was getting nervous; this wasn't exactly how he thought that she would meet the team. Spencer had been watching him for the last few minutes, "Is everything okay, Morgan. You have been fidgeting for last hour."

He took a deep breath and just decided to admit it to the team "Hermione and I have an event tonight and she is meeting me at the airfield with my suit so that I can get changed."

Prentiss perked up in her seat and pulled her headphones off "Did I just hear that we are going to be meeting the mysterious Hermione when we get off the plane?"

"Yes, but we are going to be leaving as soon as I get changed. It's an event for the benefactors of the school and as a teacher she is required to be there."

JJ moved to sit in the seat across from him "what does she teach?"

"Latin, French, Greek and creative writing to elementary through high school students. Didn't you guys find this all out from Garcia already?"

It was Prentiss who replied "of course not, she refused to tell us anything other than that she approved."

"Well I'm glad that she could keep some secrets; I would like you all to meet her before you make any judgements."

Rossi just leaned back in his seat "Well we would have to meet her to be able to do that."

"Since we have tomorrow off then why don't we all meet up and have dinner."

Rossi replied "Perfect let's have dinner at my house; I'll cook."

"Fine text me the time and I'll see if Hermione can come."

The plane started its descent and Derek packed up his bag. When they landed, Derek was the first one off the plane and he looked up to find Hermione; he stopped on the stairs and his jaw dropped. She stood there in her emerald dress clinging to her curves and her curls cascading down her back and held his suit bag draped over her arm. He rushed down the stairs and kissed her "Damn, you look absolutely stunning" he kissed her once again.

"Thank you. I brought you a suit, so why don't you get changed and I'll introduce myself to your team." He took the bag from her and went to go get changed. In the space that he occupied was his team who was hugging Garcia as she welcomed them back.

Hermione stood there for a second before Garcia turned and introduced her "Everyone this is Hermione; Hermione this is Hotch, Rossi, JJ, Spencer and Emily. Now before you ask I introduced myself to her a few days ago."

Hermione said hello to everyone and Rossi made sure to invite her to get know everyone tomorrow in case Derek forgot. Derek emerged from the building then wearing his suit; He walked up to Hermione and wrapped his arm around her waist "Are you ready to go?"

She looked up at him "Yes of course we better get going so we aren't late." She then looked at the team "It was nice to meet you all. I can't wait to get a chance to talk with you tomorrow."

Derek escorted her to her car; she passed him the keys knowing that he would prefer to drive. "I am so glad that you are back, I've missed my running partner."

"I've missed running with you to; when we are on the case we don't get the chance to go for runs or go to the gym, so it will nice to have the next two days off to be able to go for runs with you again." They spent the ride chatting mostly about how Hermione's week had been and about the time that she had been spending with Garcia. Derek was happy that two important women in his life were getting along so well.

That night as Derek laid in bed, with his larger frame wrapped around Hermione, he felt nothing but contentment and love. He might not have been ready to admit it yet, but he was definitely falling in love with Hermione. And with those peaceful thoughts filling his mind he was able to drift off to one of the best night's sleeps he had in a long time.

Hermione was pacing in her kitchen looking over the bottles of wine she had in the cabinet. She knew that she was making Derek nervous, but she just couldn't help it; she was feeling nervous about meeting his team who was basically his family. She finally picked up two bottles of wine, one red and one white, and walked into the living room where Derek was sitting on her couch. "Do you think these are good; I wasn't sure what we are eating so I think I should bring a white and a red?"

"Yes they are fine. I am sure that Rossi isn't expecting you to bring anything."

"You can't go to someone elses house empty handed, it's rude."

He ignored that comment and just went to grab their coats. "You are going to be fine, but we need to get there first. I'm pretty sure that being late is worse than forgetting a host gift."

Hermione nodded and quickly put on her jacket and they walked out the door. In the car Derek held her hand in silent support. He pulled in the driveway of a large colonial style house. They walked to the door and Hotch opened the door. "Jack and I just got here, we were just waiting on you. Come on in."

Derek guided Hermione into the kitchen were everyone was sitting watching Rossi cook. "Everyone I would like to formally introduce you to Hermione Granger, my girlfriend. Hermione this is Will, JJ's husband."

Everyone said hello, and Garcia gave her a huge hug. Hermione then handed Rossi the bag with the wine. He opened the bag "Wonderful wine choices. These are vintage 1950 French wine; where did you get these?"

"One of my friends has a vineyard and loves to educate me on great wines. I have about 5 bottles of each at home, and can get more, probably not of that year, but I have access to a large amount of wine. I thought that everyone could appreciate a great bottle of wine."

Rossi looked at her "well thank you. How about we teach everyone hear about these wonderful wines?" Hermione nodded and Rossi poured everyone a glass of wine.

Garcia couldn't hold it in any longer "Tell us about the fancy party you two went to last night." Derek launched into a description about all the people at the party while Hermione started up a conversation with JJ and Hotch about children "you both have such adorable children. How old are they?"

Hotch replied first "Jack is six" "Henry is two."

Hermione smiled, "I miss that age."

JJ looked shocked "you have kids?"

The room went silent. "Oh no; I don't have kids myself, but I am the Godmother to three adorable little boys. Teddy is 10, James is 6, and Albus is 5. I used to see them all the time, but now that I moved to the United States I no longer get the chance. I even found out one of my friends is pregnant again." Everyone looked sympathetic and Derek put his arm around her and rubbed her back.

JJ replied "I'm sorry that we assumed that."

"Don't be how I worded it made it seem like they were my kids."

Trying to brighten up the mood Garcia interrupted "Hermione you have to tell everyone that story that you told me yesterday about that one kid in your class."

"Okay. So yesterday I was teaching French to the elementary students and we do show and tell in French where I have the students describe what they brought in French. One little boy brought a pillow case in with some stuff in it, and I thought nothing of it because usually the kids just put their toys in a bag to bring in, but when he got up there I was shocked. He dumps the bag out and all over the table were sex toys. None of the kids knew what they were so I just had to keep myself from laughing. The little boy described them as 'the toys his mommy and her work friend Mr. Dave use when daddy isn't home.' I had to hold the kid after class and ask him to leave the pillow case there. I had to tell him that since he didn't get a parent's permission to take those to school or tell that story then I had to ask his mother to come pick them up. I had to call his mother at work and tell her what happened to have her pick them up during her lunch. I don't know who was more embarrassed me or her."

Everyone laughed and the tension was broken once again. The rest of the evening was a success with everyone getting to know Hermione. Prentiss even convinced her that they needed a girl's night which they had planned for the next Friday or Saturday that the BAU didn't have a case. Hotch and Hermione exchanged phone numbers so that Hermione could help pick up Jack in case Hotch's sister-in-law was busy. And Spencer even found a kindred spirit in Hermione, and they spent some time discussing literature and exchanging favorite books. Then Hermione wandered over to Jack and Henry to play with them while some of the team were debating about old cases.

Derek and Rossi stood together; Rossi looked over at him "so I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you so. You've really fallen for her haven't you?"

"Yeah I have; she really is perfect for me. I mean don't get me wrong still are going to have some fights, but I can see up being together for a while."

"She is first woman that you have introduced to the group; when are you going to take her home to meet your mother and your sisters because you know that if you keep putting that off one of your sisters is going to find out and pull a Garcia and come introduce themselves."

"No please don't remind me. I was planning on holding out for as long as possible they are going to scare her away."

Rossi just looked at him "Do you really think that if the team hasn't scared her off that your sisters are going to be able to?"

"I guess not, but I don't think that she is ready for the kind of commitment that comes with introduction to the family."

"I think you'd be surprised, but just talk to her about it. Now get back over there before Jack or Henry steals your girl." Derek walked over to where Hermione was sitting on the couch cuddled up and reading to Jack and Henry who were almost asleep on her lap. Derek sat down next to Hermione and kissed her temple. When she finished the story Jack, Henry and Derek were asleep. Will and Hotch came over and picked up their children whispering their thanks to Hermione, and letting her know that they would see her soon. Hermione woke up Derek and they said goodbye to everyone. Prentiss and Spencer made sure to make several jokes about Hermione finally being the girl to tire out the ultimate ladies' man. Hermione drove them back to her apartment.

As they were laying in bed Hermione kissed Derek and whispered "I love you."

Derek kissed her back "I love you too."


End file.
